Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Facebook and Myspace can Help Your Business!

Social network marketing is a becoming a key are in internet marketing. The websites your kids use to stay connected with their friends - Facebook and Myspace - might be a key part of increasing the business you get from the web.

Your probably familiar with the two social networking sites mentioned above. You may even use them yourself. But did you ever think of using these online communities as an online marketing opportunity for your business? There are cool new social networks forming everyday. One is sure to have you target audience in mind.

Thousands of people use sites like Facebook and Myspace every day. How many business owners would turn down the opportunity to get in front of that size audience? Not many. But that is just the beginning. There are an ever growing number of focused social networks out there for just about any topic you can think of. Many of them allow you the ability to create a personal profile or a business profile for free. (The best kind of marketing!) Some also allow you to place the equivalent of a pay-per-click ad on their networks.

Facebook has developed it's own "market place" allowing people to place what amounts to a classified ad. Myspace also has it's own version of classifieds for users. Both mega-networks allow you to place pay-per-click ads. Many of the smaller, more focused social networks allow you to do the same thing.

The first step I would take in social network marketing would be to identify which networks would work best for your business and create a free profile. If you've got a service or product that promotes healthy lifestyles you might search for a dieter's social networks or exerciser's social network. If you're a business coach you should look for things like small business owners networks or a business coach network to share ideas.

Whatever your business is, it shouldn't take you too long to identify some social networks to get involved in. If you can't find what you're looking for, create your own!